The Day of Vicissitude
by Kyra Dragonis
Summary: "Your mother gave her life to protect her only son. Now, as a mother, I give my only son to you, to hold and protect as I know you shall. You are a great man, Harry Potter, and I know you will be a great husband."


The Wedding of a Lifetime

AN: So, while I was putting off writing another chapter of my actually story, this little idea popped into my head that I just couldn't get to go away.

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><p>"Draco? Are you in here?" Blaise asked as he knocked once before inviting himself into the guest room, closing the door behind himself. His dark eyes found Draco, who was dressed in his black suit, pacing up and down in front of the fireplace. "Keep pacing like that and you are going to make yourself dizzy."<p>

"I'm already dizzy!" Draco exclaimed as he allowed Blaise to approach him, cloak draped over his arm. He could hardly hold still as the pure white dress cloak was wrapped around his shoulders and clasped in the front. His nerves were jumping all around with both excitement and fear. What if something went wrong? So many times plans were made, only to go to hell in the end. He was so frightful that this time would be no different.

"Well, maybe if you held still I -" Blaise cut himself off as the pale man moved out of arms reach to resume his pacing, his new dress cloak ends swaying about his feet as he took his long strides. "Keep doing that and you will end up getting fur all over yourself from all the kick-up from the rug." He smirked as the blonde stopped abruptly.

"Don't even joke about that, Blaise! That animal, I swear it should be bald from all the fur it sheds. I have to check myself over every time I plan on going out in case I have a small animal made up of fur on me. I still don't understand why he just had to have that retched creature." Draco sneered at the thought of the collie that was roaming the house somewhere.

The dark man rolled his eyes at his friend. "Would you rather have gotten a ferret?" He hid his grin as Draco threatened to hex a certain part of his anatomy. Both boys stopped to stare at the door as another soft knock sounded.

"Who is it?" Draco yelled out.

"It's alright, it's just your mother," a soft, loving voice replied. A beautiful woman with long blonde hair gracefully slid into the room, only opening the door as wide as she needed to let herself in before shutting it once more. "Oh, that cloak looks stunning on you, darling. Let's see a turn then."

"Mother, I'm not some girl in a dress," Draco complained, but still did a quick, one footed full rotation, having the cloak wrap around his feet when he held still once more. His mother only smiled at him in return.

"Everything downstairs is just about ready. The house elves have prepared a most wonderful feast." A smile graced her soft features.

"But what about the flowers? It's really important that they are perfect." The worry was evident in Draco's voice.

"Not to worry, all the white lilies have the charm placed so they will look covered in dew," Blaise piped in.

"Merlin, I haven't been this nervous since I asked for that first date."

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><p>"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Potter's voice was more curious than anything else. It had been five years since the end of the war and they'd had to correspond on more than one occasion, so they had learned to put their history behind them. They still bickered every once and a while, but it was always half joking. "Has something happened? It's not often that you come to the Ministry, unless you are called to tend to an injured Auror." Suddenly, his voice had more worry in it than curiosity. "Has someone been injured?"<p>

"No one needs rescuing, Potter. I, as a matter of fact, came here to see you." His voice no longer held the snide tone it once did.

"Me?" Potter ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up more than it already was. "What could you possibly want with me?"

"To feed you, if possible. Tonight. At a restaurant in London. Of course, if you don't want to, I will understand. I mean, I know you just got out of that really bad relationship with Weasley, and you probably haven't thought about me in any sort of dating sense. You know, it was silly for me to come here, I apologize, I shall go." Draco rushed through his words, a faint blush creeping upon his pale cheeks and was half turned before he even stopped talking. He was stopped though, as a hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

"I would love to. Let me just go and tell Ron that I am taking off for the night. Don't run off on me." And just as quickly as the hand was there, it was gone and Draco could hear the sound of Potter walking away. The blonde considered running out from embarrassment alone, but he wasn't sure if Potter would forgive him if he did that. The man of his affections returned a minute later, pulling on his coat as he approached.

"Ready to go then?" Draco asked.

"Lead the way."

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><p>"Just one more second, darling," Narcissa told her son as she made one more stroke with the soft brush through his white-blonde hair.<p>

"Draco, all the guests have finally arrived and taken their seats. We shall be starting in about five minutes. I want you to smooth out your cloak and get to the back double doors while I let everyone know we are about to start," Blaise called from over his shoulder as he headed for the door. He paused as he was half way out of the room and turned to look back at Draco. "And congratulations." The dark man disappeared behind the closed door a second later.

"Okay, show time." He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself.

"Everything is going to go swimmingly, just you see," his mother re-assured him.

"Yeah, right, when has anything ever gone to plan when it comes to this relationship?"

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><p>"Okay, Malfoy, I have to ask, why did you bring me to a market for our date tonight?" Potter asked as he looked around at all the home grown food stands that lined the small enclosure.<p>

"As I told you, Potter, I wanted to cook a special dinner for you, and I thought it would be nice to visit the market beforehand." The blonde shook his head at his boyfriend's amazed reaction to the market that he regularly visited.

"Potter?" a woman's voice rang out through the crowd like a gunshot. Even nearly six years after the war, Potter was still thrown around the media like a whore in a whorehouse. Before long, Potter was surrounded by women, and some men, wanting his autograph, or a picture; the food Potter was holding lay forgotten and smashed on the ground by the stampede of fans. Draco tried calling out to him several times, and pushing through the crowd was fruitless. He watched as he caught glimpse of Potter shaking hands and signing papers, smiling and laughing to the hoard of strangers. Calmly, he walked over to the counter and put down a few galleons for the food he held in a bag, and the wasted food on the floor, and apparated home.

A few hours later, when both plates sitting at opposite ends of the long table had gone cold, Draco sighed to himself and leaned over, blowing out the half melted candles with a puff, and shut the small box he held clenched in his hand, the sound echoing off the walls. It wasn't until an hour later, when he heard the front door open, that he finally managed to close his eyes and drift off to sleep.

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><p>"Well, you made it in the end, didn't you?" Narcissa helped her son stand up, and brushed off his cloak for him. "Not the jealous fans, not the media, not even your own farther, got in the way of your relationship with Harry. You have him in your hands, darling, now all you have to do is hold onto him."<p>

She walked her son out of the guest room and down the main hall that lead into the living room. They had found they didn't need a large house, just something big enough for the two of them, and the retched dog he couldn't help but love.

He faced the large double doors like they were the last big challenge. Everything past those doors was a new start, a new life. He had managed to come this far, by his own stubbornness and determination. What was a door compared to Draco Malfoy? And if this door did, in fact, prove to be too much of a challenge, that was fine, he would just tear this one down and buy another door, a better door. Realizing that he was purposely delaying himself, and that his mother was watching him with a knowing smile on her face, he took another deep breath, felt his mother take his arm, and marched onward toward a new start.

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><p>"I do apologize for taking you out like that; I should have realized that people would spot you and it would turn into a fiasco." Draco laid down a plate in front of the dark haired man and took his own spot in bed next to him.<p>

"No, no, it was my fault. I shouldn't have let them swarm me like that. I was supposed to be there with you, not let myself get carried away by the swarm of people."

"Well, you could always stay with me, Harry," he said, while watching the other man intently.

The green eyes met with the gray, "Harry? You almost never call me by my first name."

Draco smiled, "Well, I'm not sure if I should call you Potter," and then he pulled out the tiny velvet box, opened it toward his boyfriend, his lover, and showed him the solid white gold ban inside, "or Malfoy."

The green eyes sparkled as they went from Draco's, down to see the ring, and shot back up to his lover's. "Draco. . . did you just?"

"Harry Potter, will you marry me?"

The tray of food lay forgotten as it toppled over the side of the bed and crashed onto the floor when Harry lunged for Draco and pressed him into the bed, continually alternating between half sobbed yes' and kissing the Slytherin.

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><p>Every face in the crowd shot around as the two double doors opened to reveal Draco and his mother, dressed in their best, and walking slowly onto the stone path that lead into the overgrown garden. Seeing all the glistening flowers, he remembered that he really must thank Longbottom for his effort in making sure the plants were perfect for his day. His eyes only lingered on the lilies for a second before returning forward, and he caught sight of the reason for his bliss: the shorter man, with wild, dark hair, glistening green eyes, and glasses you just end up loving anyway, no matter how much mocking one gives about them. Even from across the lawn, the healer saw the happiness and love that shown from Harry, entire face lit up and near tears.<p>

Every step he took felt heavy and light at the same time. All he could do was take every step as it came, hoping beyond hope that it would feel as right as the last one. He felt his mother give his arm a little squeeze as they neared his fiancé. She departed from him and walked a bit faster, coming to stand in front of Harry.

"Your mother gave her life to protect her only son. Now, as a mother, I give my only son to you, to hold and protect as I know you shall. You are a great man, Harry Potter, and I know you will be a great husband." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and turned around, to take her front row seat in the crowd. To the side of Harry stood Ron, red hair flashing in the setting sun, his hand linked with Hermione, who was stunning in her light blue dress. Beside Hermione stood Neville, who was always just as loyal as the others, in his own way. Draco turned to look at his side, where Blaise stood waiting, his dark suit matching his skin. Pansy and Nott were waiting, just as Ron and Hermione, with hands linked together and smiling as he approached. The music was soft as a bird's song and the fountain could be heard, setting a lovely, tranquil mood for the whole occasion. Just a few more steps, and his life would soon be tied together with Harry's, just has it had been for the past twelve years of his life, ever since that first time in Diagon Alley, when Draco didn't know who that poor looking boy was, but wanted to get to know him anyway.

Draco never got to hear the wedding vows that Harry slaved away for days on. Nor did he get the chance to tell Harry everything he wanted to say to him, under the gazebo. He heard the spell being shouted, and he heard the screams. He even heard his softly spoken "oh" as it felt like a white hot blade was slashed through his insides. He watched as he started to fall to the ground, his new white dress robes getting dirt all over the side. His gray eyes watched as Potter shouted something and rushed to his side, saying words of affirmation and trying to sound hopeful, but he still saw the tears streaming down his face, saw the worry etched in every line. The ground was turning warm against his cooling face, with a quick glance downwards he discovered that it was his own blood that was warming his face.

"I had you, Harry Potter, and I tried to hold on to you, but I guess that my grip just wasn't tight enough." Draco had trouble getting each word out loud enough to be heard as his voice was cracking with the effort that his body was less and less willing to make. His vision was getting black around the edges, and before long, his soft continued whispers of "I love you" were even too soft for him to hear, but he kept his mouth moving, and the darkness was closing around those green eyes like a tunnel slowly closing upon him. His body was so numb, and his mind was so tired, he just couldn't stay awake any longer. He closed his unseeing eyes, took his last deep breath, and let it out slowly, never to take another.

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><p>AN: Bring on the hate! :D Thank you for my lovely beta, Xezo, for going over this for me. She is amazing!<p> 


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